Muzaffarnagar derailment: Owner of the damaged house demands compensation from Railways

Pintu Chaudhary, the owner of the house that got damaged in the train derailment in Muzaffarnagar, on Sunday said that he would file a case against the Railways and demand a compensation from the authorities.

Speaking to ANI, he described how the accident unfolded on Saturday.

Pointing to a derailed train coach, Chaudhary said, "This is exactly where I was sitting, with my mother and father. There was some work happening on the tracks when the train arrived at full speed - the train is known to move speedily as it does not have a stop here - when suddenly stones began flying around everywhere. I took off running and shouting everyone to run. My father fell down in that moment and got stuck; I started dragging him out when I saw that the coaches flung as high as 20 feet. The train had derailed. As you can see, the derailed coach had entered my house and has completely demolished it."

Amidst the dust and storm in the aftermath, just five minutes later, the local people became the saviour, and the ambulance reached the site soon after, informed Chaudhary.

According to him, the authorities came at least an hour and a half after the accident, whereas the locals contributed the most to the rescue mission. Meanwhile, the workers on the track fled the scene leaving all their equipment.

On being asked the next steps he would take after the damages, he said, "I will file a case against the Railways; or they would have to provide me compensation."

Last evening, 14 coaches of the Puri-Haridwar-Kalinga Utkal Express derailed at Muzaffarnagar's Khatauli in which 23 people lost their lives and 156 others got injured. The accident also injured pedestrians and damaged the nearby house of Pintu Chaudhary.